Broken Dreams
by lilylunaluver
Summary: Claire still dreamt of Castiel every night. She never talked about it, not even to her mom, though her mother figured out what was happening pretty quickly. At first they were all in the past, but then she began to dream of the current situation. She dreams all the way to when Castiel retrieved the angel tablet and escaped Heaven. And then she made a mistake.
1. Chapter 1

Claire still dreamt of Castiel every night.

At first, she was dreamt the past. She was Castiel, throughout history, and boy was there a lot of it. She began to do really well in class because she dreamt it every night, and at one point got in an intense argument with her World Religions teacher about John the Baptist.

Then, the dreams began to change. These new dreams seem to be current. In them, Castiel fought heaven, the Cage where Lucifer lay was opened and the Horsemen roamed the earth. Lucifer was locked back up, and Castiel spent a year in heaven fighting Raphael. Then he paired up with the two hunters again, made a deal with the King of Hell, swallowed the souls in Purgatory, let the Leviathans out, and died. Al while wearing Jimmy's body. It was a little disconcerting, and Claire constantly had to remind herself that it wasn't her father doing those things, it was Castiel, Angel of the Lord, Warrior of Heaven, billions of years old and able to smite in a breath.

The dreams went back to the past for about a month, and then, she dreamt that Castiel came back, but couldn't remember. Castiel was Emmanuel, healer and married to Daphne. That was an extraordinarily strange period of time for Claire. She had to watch Jimmy's body be married to another woman, other than her mother. After he remembered again, Claire specifically dreamt him thinking about one of the hunters a lot – the shorter one, Dean – even more that he had before.

When Castiel and Dean were sent to purgatory, Claire realized something. After Castiel ran away, he still thought of Dean constantly. The way he thought, so fondly, reminded Claire of the way her mother spoke of her father. And that when Claire understood that Castiel was in love with Dean, whether or not he knew it.

When Dean found Castiel, Claire realized something else. Dean refused to leave without Castiel – he said, specifically, that he needed the angel. That was when Claire saw that Dean was in love with Castiel, whether or not he knew it.

She didn't tell anyone what she knew. Who could she tell, anyway? She had no way of contacting Castiel other than prayer, and there was no way she was doing that.

She saw Castiel stay in Purgatory for penance, and get let out by Naomi. She remembered each and every one of Castiel's "service trips" to Heaven and she wishes she could warn him, but she realizes Naomi would stop her, so she doesn't. She watches Castiel kill Dean hundreds of times and then almost kills Dean in real life, but stops and gets the angel tablet before vanishing.

And that is when she makes a mistake.

Moving to Industry, California, was Claire's idea.

Having been possessed by an angel, she learned a lot about the Supernatural very quickly, especially demons, and found not many monsters enjoy sunlight. So, small town in Southern Cali sounded great. They changed their name, Claire went to school, Amelia got a job. They were happy, for a while, and other than the dreams Amelia knew Claire had but never talked about, they could forget about everything. They said Jimmy died, and Claire never talked about him to anyone.

She was riding the bus home when she slipped up. Sitting next to a teenage guy, she turned to him and said hi.

"Hi. Luke Devarough." He held out his hand to shake.

"Claire Novak," she blurted before covering her mouth. "I mean, Moore. My name is Claire Moore."

He looked at her, confused. "Ummm, how did you mess up your last name?"

"It's a new name – my stepfather's." She said the first thing that came to mind. "We changed our name, only to have him run out on us. Never changed it back, just moved here. I still mess up sometimes, sorry."

He nodded, but something in his expression seemed off. "Did you say Novak?"

"Yes," she said slowly.

"Is that your mom's maiden name, or…"

For some reason, she felt compelled to tell the truth. "It was my dad's."

"Oh." He seemed surprised. "What happened to him?"

"He died," she said shortly. She did not feel like talking about it.

"Oh," he said. "Sorry." Pause. "What was his name?"

"Jimmy. Jimmy Novak," she blurted. Damn, she couldn't control her mouth, could she.

"How'd he die?"

She glared in response. The bus stopped, and she got up. "This is my stop." It really was, but she would have gotten off anyway.

He stood as well. "Really? Mine too."

They got off together, and Claire hurried off. He chased her. "Wait!"

"What," she huffed, annoyed. She'd already said too much.

"Can I walk you home?"

She rolled her eyes. "I'm fine, thanks." She stared off again.

He grabbed her arm. "Really, a young lady like you, this late? It would be courtesy."

"It's barely dark, and I can take care of myself. I'm stronger than I look," she said tightly. "Now let go or I'll have to show you."

He let her go then, and Claire practically ran the whole was home.

She'd forgotten about it within a few days.

School was tough – she was in her junior year, taking almost all AP classes and getting ready for college. She'd been hoping to go into Religious studies as a major and become a professor – with her dreams, she'd be able to tell everyone so much more. With her Finals coming up, she was studying all the time, anywhere she could.

She went to school on Monday, the week before her Finals, still stressed and studying. That morning, she'd been in such a rush to get to school she hadn't even greeted her mother past a quick "Bye, love you". Coming home late after a study session/tutoring thing she did with a couple friends, she walked inside the house and went straight to her room.

When, after 7:30, her mother still hadn't called her for dinner while they usually had dinner around six, she went to investigate. Walking into the kitchen, she saw nothing. No pots, no oven, no smells – it was like her mother never even had lunch. Her breakfast plates were still in the sink, unwashed.

That was when Claire became worried. Heading to her mother's room in their tiny two-room apartment, she opened the door.

And screamed.


	2. Chapter 2

Amelia POV

Amelia Novak watched her daughter rush out the door, and shook her head. She loved her daughter, and she understood her want to succeed: she wanted to make her father proud. But that girl was stretching herself entirely too thin. Hopefully, after her finals Claire would slow down a bit.

Amelia finished her breakfast and went to her room and opened her laptop. She had today off, and she was mostly looking into college applications for her daughter. She spent a while on them, and ended up losing track of time. By the time she checked her watch, it was 1:30 and she had forgotten about lunch. She shut the computer, stretched, and went to the closed door, turning the handle.

It wouldn't budge.

Confused, Amelia checked the lock. It was unlocked, so she tried again. Still, the door was stuck. She shouldered it, and nothing.

Someone chuckled.

Amelia spun around, stopping to eye the teenage boy standing in front of her. "Hello?" Her voice wavered.

The boy grinned. "I met your daughter. Claire, is it? She seemed so kind. Obviously missed her father."

"What do you want? What does my ex-husband have to do with this?"

The boy, if possible, smiled wider. "Oh, everything. For his body is not buried, is it? It still walks this earth, and sometimes upstairs, does it not?"

"Christo." Amelia had learned that trick while possessed, so long ago. She could still remember how it felt – trapped in her own body, unable to save her daughter and forcing her to take an angel in.

The boy flinched, eyes turned black. "Ah, yes, you were possessed at one point." He laughed loudly. "This is going to be fun!"

Suddenly, Amelia couldn't move. She slammed against the wall, raised to the ceiling. She was stuck there.

The demon boy vanished from sight, but still Amelia was stuck there. She waited on the ceiling several hours, until she finally heard Claire return.

She tried to call out, warn her daughter, but found she couldn't speak. She heard Claire enter her room.

Another hour passed.

Finally, Claire left her room, obviously wondering why dinner wasn't ready. She walked around a bit, then rushed towards Amelia's room.

As Claire turned the handle, Amelia's stomach cut open. Pain radiated throughout her body, but she couldn't scream.

Claire looked into the room, then immediately her eyes went up. She knew, Amelia could tell. Her daughter's dreams were sometimes nightmares, she woke screaming every so often. Both knew exactly what it was, but never spoke of it. They tried to forget.

Amelia wished she had talked to her daughter more.

That was her last thought before she felt fire everywhere, and everything went black.

Claire POV

The fire was incredibly hot. Claire ran to her room and grabbed the back she had packed just in case. It included all the necessary hunting supplies, spare money (about a thousand dollars for emergencies), comfortable clothes and some pictures of her family. He phone and laptop were grabbed quickly, and then she ran.

She fire spread quickly, and by the time the firemen came from her call (she used a public phone – she didn't want to be traced), it had taken the whole apartment. Claire was hiding across the street. She hoped they would think she died in the fire. She planned on vanishing. She was now an orphan with an infinite amount of knowledge.

She hoped to find Castiel.

Her dreams of late had been of countless Biggerson's. She knew exactly where the angel tablet was, but she didn't like to think about it. She worried about being found. The angels could use her. She wondered why no one had thought of it.

That night, she used the money she kept in her bag to buy a bus ticket to Kansas. She knew if she waited there, she would at least find the Winchesters who would bring her to Castiel. She fell asleep on the bus with her bag tucked tightly under her arm.

Her dreams were of Naomi and Crowley fighting over Castiel. Crowley found the tablet and kept Castiel under the care of a renegade angel, but Castiel escaped and found the Winchesters. She knew where they were, now, but it would still take a few days to get to them. She did not have a key to their bunker, so she would have to knock.

She woke with the sun.


	3. Chapter 3

Her final stop on the bus was in Conway Springs, Kansas. She was hoping to hitchhike the rest of the way, but she was exhausted and decided to take a break. She spent two days just walking around, when she literally bumped into them.

They were teenage hunters. Their names, Krissy, Josephine and Aiden. They had heard about the mysterious girl who showed up one day and appeared in random places. They had thought her to be a monster, but when they found her she was on a park bench looking at her pictures.

Krissy approached her. "Hello?"

Claire looked up, surprised. "Hello." Her voice cracked, and she realized she was crying.

"What's wrong?" asked Josephine.

"Sorry. It's just," she gestured to the pictures. Krissy picked on up of Claire, her mother, and her father having a pillow fight on their old bed. Claire was about seven.

"Is this your family?" Krissy asked softly.

"Yeah."

"Are they gone now?"

Claire sniffled. "Yeah."

"What happened?"

Claire snorted. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

Krissy smirked. "Try me."

The edge in her voice made Claire look up, and she noticed them, really noticed them, for the first time. Krissy was tense, leaning into Aiden, and Aiden was looking at her with a mix of suspicion and sympathy. Josephine had a hand on her waist, and Claire immediately realized there was a gun. "You won't need that," she said, pointing. Josephine raised an eyebrow, but lowered her hand. "It's a long story," Claire said, turning to Krissy again.

"Krissy," she replied, holding out her hand. "And Aiden, my boyfriend, and our legal guardian Josephine."

"Claire," she said, taking the hand.

"You look starving. Would you like to come have dinner? And maybe take a shower?" Krissy asked.

Claire grimaced and sniffed. "Sorry. Yeah, okay. Then I can tell you. But only if you tell me."

"Deal."

Claire felt clean.

It was weird. She hadn't even noticed how filthy and smelly she'd gotten, how much she missed being scrubbed shining, until she actually did it. But now, she couldn't imagine ever being that dirty again.

She knew, as a hunter, she would very likely be that dirty again.

Josephine was a very good cook. They had burgers, and Claire, having been surviving off Jerky and water, ate three before slowing down. Krissy had finished eating and started to talk.

"My mom, she died when I was little. My dad was a hunter. I went on one hunt – Vetala – because my dad went missing. A guy showed up to help me, named Sam, and he vanished too. Then his brother Dean appeared and I made him bring me along. I killed one of them, the other was killed by Sam. After that, Dean made me promise to stop hunting. So we did. Me and my dad, we were normal. Then a vamp got him. I was recruited by a guy named Victor who was going to help me kill the vamp that got Dad with Josephine and Aiden, but we found out after Sam and Dean got involved again that Victor was tricking us. We killed the vamp he'd been working with and were going to make Victor live a lonely life, but he got to his gun and but it to his head. Dean wanted to take me to an aunt, but I refused and decided to stay here. We don't hunt unless it comes to us, though. We promised. Dean really doesn't like teenagers hunting – he started when he was really little and he thinks it messed him up. I don't know. Maybe it did."

"Sam and Dean," Claire murmured. "The Winchesters."

Krissy looked surprised. "How'd you know that?"

"Who doesn't know the Winchesters?" she retorted, and Krissy grimaced. "Good point."

"My dad was acting weird. He kept thinking he had an angel talking to him, and my mom asked him to get help. Next thing we know, he's vanished." Claire shuddered. "There was this weird light, and then I asked, 'Dad?' and he replied, 'I am not your father.' Then he vanished. He turned up a year later, claiming to be better." Krissy interrupted. "A demon." "No."

Claire took a deep breath. "He stabbed his best friend saying he was possessed and then Sam and Dean came to save us. Dad agreed to leave because he was putting us in danger, so we were going to leave. He got in the car, and then after a short time mom called him and then she slapped me and I realized it wasn't mom. A demon was possessing her. Dad and Sam and Dean came back to save us, and I was tied up when he spoke to me."

"Who, the demon? Your dad?" They were entranced.

"Castiel."

"Wait – that sounds familiar! I heard Dean talking about him once, I know I did," Krissy exclaimed.

"My dad is a vessel. He agreed to host Castiel, and that's why he left. The demons were there and Castiel told me he could help. I said yes. So he took over."

"But what is he?" Josephine asked.

"Well, for one thing, technically non-gendered… Anyways. Castiel is the Angel of Thursday, a Warrior of God, the angel that raised Dean from Hell."

Stunned silence.

"Dad was dying and asked Castiel to take him instead of me. Castiel agreed. Mom and I moved to California, and last week the demons found us and killed her. I know where the Winchesters are so I decided to try and find them for help. I've been having dreams of Castiel's life, present, and past, every night. I have no other family."

"Well…" Josephine sounded shy. "I mean, it's crazy, but you could always stay with us."

Claire stared. "Really?"

Krissy butted in. "Of course. Stick with us, Claire. We'll take care of you."

"Well, I mean, there is one thing I want to do eventually."

"What?" Aiden spoke up.

"I do want to find Castiel and talk to him. Just talk. It will be weird, he looks like dad, but I need to."

The three looked at each other. "Sure. But for now, just settle in. You go to school?"

Claire looked startled. "Yeah, I did, until I ran. I was an eleventh grader. I was studying for finals when mom died, actually. Lost all my books. I could probably get into Twelfth Grade for next year, though. I need a new last name, I don't want to go by either Novak or Moore."

"We got Chambers and Barnes, take your pick."

Claire smiled for the first time since her mother died.


End file.
